Ribh's D'Coopage

[rjohns39]

Good morning folks

 

[Ribh]

Afternoon Bob & Sue. Shaping up to be a funny one here. It thinks it might rain... Will believe that when it happens!

The girls are anxious to be out which will happen shortly as they must be in tomorrow. We are heading out to lunch with some of the family tomorrow & it will be a most of the day affair as we are traveling down to the Gold Coast to eat. Hoping for a nice day so we can eat outside.

 

[MaryJanet]

So pretty - such orangey browns

 

[MaryJanet]

Oops-that was in reply to @CrazyChookChookLady 's photos

But it's good for your post too Ribh, although my first instinct was to make a fuss over Lottie

It's a cool day here and I managed to do a dew chores around the house yesterday, so I'm feeling pleased with myself.

The hens were calling out quite early and I thought, fox! But happily no, just an overnight egg smashed below.

 

[Ribh]

Oops-that was in reply to @CrazyChookChookLady 's photos

But it's good for your post too Ribh, although my first instinct was to make a fuss over Lottie

It's a cool day here and I managed to do a dew chores around the house yesterday, so I'm feeling pleased with myself.

The hens were calling out quite early and I thought, fox! But happily no, just an overnight egg smashed below.

MJ: you need a Wyandotte bantam! You & Lottie!

Yep. My girls are fussing. I scrambled them up some egg last night as someone is consistently cracking hers when she drops them in the nest. I save them up for a special treat ~ the little gobblers. Lottie is so funny as she has to really battle to get a tid~bit & then she shoots off into a corner where no~one can get her to enjoy it in peace.

 

[MaryJanet]

It's just that she's so cute among her friends!

Mine had @rjohns39 treat yesterday. Well, it was really for Sandy but Mary muscled in after a while.

 

[Ribh]

It's just that she's so cute among her friends!

You too could have this cuteness!
She's a funny girl. She's worked out I'll look out for her but unless she's after treats she's not overly fond of me. On the other hand the Campines [& Suyin] in particular mob me. However I'm getting picky about who I'll hand feed. Suyin rakes her beak down my palm, which is no fun. Lavender has the hardest beak & pecks hard enough to hurt. The Campines & Lottie are really gentle & the feel of their wattles against my wrist as they gently take food is rather endearing. The BRs are fairly gentle too but as they are top ranking chooks they only arrive to assert their dominance & don't normally stay long. I'm discouraging the pushy, greedy girls [ the ones who hurt] as there's certainly enough food @ multiple stations for everyone to have a good pig.

 

[MaryJanet]

That's interesting. Of my three, Mary is the gentle one, Sandy pecks hard but her beak was trimmed at some point in her history and now it's a blunt instrument, so she may not have the sensitivity Mary has.

 

[Ribh]

CHOOK OF THE WEEK:
HA'PENNY​

I always knew I was going to have Campines ~ just when was the thing. Although we'd kept chooks before I really didn't know much about the different breeds & I was nervous about starting up again [a little learning being a dangerous thing] so I did my research & went with calm, docile breeds to start: BRs & Australorps. Everyone forgot to mention how dominant they are ~ though now I just have the BRs they are much calmer.

The Campine originated in northern Belgium ['Ello Poirot] & is considered both rare & endangered [it's on the critical list in the USA]~ a good reason for keeping them in my book. It is related to the Fayoumi [Egyptian breed that looks a bit like a large Sebright].

So when I did my 2nd buy I knew I wanted to come home with Campines. Silver were my preference but we ended up with goldies. These girls aren't the easiest chickens. They are flighty, skittish birds that are excellent fliers, don't much like being handled & screamers. I wasn't expecting the screaming. I got conflicting advice on confinement but I have found they settle well to confinement now they know trust their chicken keeper. They do like to forage & are happiest where the litter is deepest.

Ha'penny is the more dominant of my 2 Campines. She has the blue ear~lobes. Tuppence's are whiter. She was also the first to calm down around me & allow me to handle her without hitting the panic button. She actually enjoys people company so long as you don't want to pet her & they are talkers! Possibly the loudest of my girls. They do have quite loud raucous voices but they are gentle when hand fed & incredibly inquisitive. Two of my smarter birds.

Campines are a medium sized bird ~ quite fragile when handling. They were bred as egg layers & then primarily for showing so not a good dual purpose bird. Their eggs are white medium sized eggs but my girls lay well & consistently & produce a lovely egg. They don't eat as much as my bigger girls either though there's nothing wrong with their appetites!

I absolutely adore these birds. They are smart, funny, whimsical & worth the time & energy needed to calm them down enough to be handled. And they are downright gorgeous eye candy!

 

[BY Bob]

This video is when Rich and I go over the peak of Blue Mountain. This is also the line between Perry and Cumberland Counties.

Woke up to pouring rain this morning. What a difference a few hours make!!
View attachment 1945337

Very cool. No leaf viewing trips yet for us. We need to do this.